41 C.F.R. Subpart E—Recommended Actions
Title 41 - Public Contracts and Property Management
Agencies should develop or use a financial accountability system that separately tracks all mail costs to the program area or below. The system should: (a) Show allocations and expenses for postage and all other mail costs (e.g., payments to service providers, mail center personnel costs, mail center overhead, etc.) separate from all other administrative expenses; (b) Assign control of funds for postage to the same person who has overall authority to control mail decisions for the program area; (c) Allow mail centers to establish systems to charge their customers for postage; and (d) Identify and charge mail costs that are part of printing contracts to the program level. Section 102–192.50 requires all large agencies to have performance measures for mail operations at the agency level and in all subordinate locations that spend more than $250,000 per year on postage. All other agencies are also encouraged to identify performance goals and measures for incoming and outgoing mail operations. Your performance measurement efforts should be focused on the large facilities that generate most of your mail. The range of measures will depend on the size of your agency or facility, your mission, and the life cycle cost of data collection. GSA will provide suggested performance measures through its mail policy website. Your agency-wide mail management plan should address: (a) The ways in which mail management supports your agency's mission; (b) Information about your agency's primary facilities; (c) Opportunities for reducing costs and/or enhancing your agency's ability to perform its mission through better mail management; (d) How you choose the lowest cost and/or best value service provider(s) for outgoing mail, while ensuring that the Private Express Statutes and all USPS regulations are followed; (e) Opportunities for centralized mail processing, worksharing, consolidation, and commingling to obtain postage savings; (f) How and to what extent you will move toward ensuring that the person who controls mail decisions is the same person who controls the funds for postage; (g) How and to what extent you will move toward ensuring that your financial systems show allocations and expenses for postage and all other mail costs separately from all other administrative expenses; and (h) How you are developing specific performance goals, maintaining performance data systems and relating mail management goals to your agency's mission-related goals. Your plan should address the following alternatives to expedited mail and couriers: (a) First Class and Priority Mail from the USPS; (b) Package delivery services from other service providers; and (c) Electronic transmission via e-mail, facsimile transmission, electronic commerce, the Internet, etc.
Title 41: Public Contracts and Property Management
PART 102–192—MAIL MANAGEMENT
Subpart E—Recommended Actions
§ 102-192.100 What financial system features does GSA recommend for finance systems to keep track of mail costs?
§ 102-192.105 What performance goals and measures should we use?
§ 102-192.110 What should your agency-wide mail management plan include?
§ 102-192.115 What less costly alternatives to expedited mail and couriers should your agency-wide mail management plan address?
